Taking Care of Business

Nineteen-year-old Jungmin Kang is building an empire out of slime. It all started six years ago, when she saw a video of homemade slime on Instagram. She noticed that the goo was all the rage with her friends at school too. So she began making her own slime out of glue and borax in her home in Round Rock, Texas, and—with a $200 investment from her dad—launched a company called Snoopslimes in 2017.

At 13, Jungmin sold her first slime products on the online marketplace Etsy for between $8 and $10 each. She also posted videos of her colorful creations on Instagram. Within a year, she was getting more than 100 orders a week and had amassed more than 1 million Instagram followers.

Fast-forward to today, and Jungmin is the CEO of a multimillion-dollar enterprise with 40 employees. Slime products on Snoopslimes’s website—such as Rubber Ducky Bubble Bath and Monet’s Water Lilies—now sell for $15 and up.

“A lot of people told me to wait until I’m older,” Jungmin says. “But being young really allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and just get started without being afraid.”

Nineteen-year-old Jungmin Kang is building an empire out of slime. It all started six years ago, when she saw a video of homemade slime on Instagram. She also noticed that the goo was all the rage with her friends at school. So she began making her own slime out of glue and borax in her home in Round Rock, Texas. With the help of a $200 investment for her dad, Jungmin started a company called Snoopslimes in 2017.

At 13, Jungmin sold her first slime products on the online marketplace Etsy. She charged between $8 and $10 each. She also posted videos of her colorful creations on Instagram. Within a year, she was getting more than 100 orders a week. She had amassed more than 1 million Instagram followers.

Fast-forward to today, and Jungmin is the CEO of a multimillion-dollar enterprise with 40 employees. Slime products on Snoopslimes’s website, like Rubber Ducky Bubble Bath and Monet’s Water Lilies, now sell for $15 and up.

“A lot of people told me to wait until I’m older,” Jungmin says. “But being young really allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and just get started without being afraid.”

Jungmin’s success at such a young age might sound unusual. But she’s actually one of many teen entrepreneurs around the country who’ve started  their own businesses. In fact, some of the biggest companies today, including Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), were started by teenagers (see “Big Businesses Started by Teens,” below).

Social media and business reality-TV shows, like Shark Tank, have put a spotlight on entrepreneurship in ways, experts say, that are capturing the attention of young people. About three out of five American teens would rather start their own business than have a traditional job, according to a recent survey by Citizens Financial Group and Junior Achievement USA, a nonprofit that teaches young people financial literacy.

“Teens are seeing—especially through social media—all these various folks who are really able to start their own businesses,” says Ed Grocholski, chief marketing officer at Junior Achievement. “So it just makes entrepreneurship appear much more accessible than maybe it was thought of in the past.”

Jungmin’s success at such a young age might sound unusual. But she’s actually one of many teen entrepreneurs around the country who’ve started their own businesses. In fact, some of the biggest companies today, including Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), were started by teenagers (see “Big Businesses Started by Teens,” below).

Social media and business reality-TV shows, like Shark Tank, have put a new spotlight on entrepreneurship. Experts say this is catching the attention of young people. About three out of five American teens would rather start their own business than have a traditional job. This is according to a recent survey by Citizens Financial Group and Junior Achievement USA, a nonprofit that teaches young people financial literacy.

“Teens are seeing—especially through social media—all these various folks who are really able to start their own businesses,” says Ed Grocholski, chief marketing officer at Junior Achievement. “So it just makes entrepreneurship appear much more accessible than maybe it was thought of in the past.”

For many teen entrepreneurs, it starts with an idea.

“Basically, the definition of entrepreneurship is finding a solution to a problem,” says Grocholski. He suggests that budding entrepreneurs look for “a need within your community” and fill that gap—whether it’s lawn care, babysitting, or something else.

For Maya Penn, the problem she wanted to help solve was a lack of eco-friendly clothing. The fashion industry contributes 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions, according to the United Nations. Much of that is the result of fast-fashion brands that are constantly churning out new—but cheaply made—clothing, which often piles up in landfills.

So when Maya was just 8 years old, she started a sustainable fashion company called Maya’s Ideas. The company takes old and used clothing and turns it into new designs. Maya works with a team of designers and has sold her clothes around the globe. Now 23, she continues to run her company and consults with other fashion brands on how to become more environmentally conscious.

She says that operating a successful business and doing good for the world can go hand in hand—and that’s a belief she thinks is shared by a lot of people in her generation.

“More young people want to not only start companies that are providing these solutions and more ethical and sustainable practices,” she says, “but more young people also want to work for companies that hold these values.”

For many teen entrepreneurs, it starts with an idea.

“Basically, the definition of entrepreneurship is finding a solution to a problem,” says Grocholski. He suggests that budding entrepreneurs look for “a need within your community” and fill that gap.

For Maya Penn, the problem she wanted to help solve was a lack of eco-friendly clothing. The fashion industry contributes 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions, according to the United Nations. Much of that is the result of fast-fashion brands that are constantly churning out new but cheaply made clothing. This clothing often ends up in landfills.

So when Maya was just 8 years old, she started a sustainable fashion company called Maya’s Ideas. The company takes old and used clothing and turns it into new designs. Maya works with a team of designers. She has sold her clothes around the globe. Now 23, she continues to run her company. She also consults with other fashion brands on how to become more environmentally conscious.

She says that operating a successful business and doing good for the world can go hand in hand. She believes a lot of people in her generation share that belief.

“More young people want to not only start companies that are providing these solutions and more ethical and sustainable practices,” she says, “but more young people also want to work for companies that hold these values.”

Giving back is something Sebastian Martinez, 15, and his brother, Brandon, 17, are seeking to do with their business. In 2014, with their mom’s help, the brothers launched Are You Kidding?, a company that sells their unique sock designs and donates 20 percent of the revenue to charity.

Since making their first sale at a booth at a shoe shop near their home in Miami, they’ve sold more than 500,000 pairs of socks at fairs, markets, school events, and online. Through charity events and partnerships, they’ve also raised more than $400,000 for pediatric cancer treatments, diabetes research, and other causes.

Sebastian is the CEO, and Brandon is the director of sales. But because of their age, Brandon says, it took time to convince potential partners and manufacturers to take them seriously.

“At first,” he says, “they were like, ‘Oh my god. What are they doing? They don’t know anything.’” But, he adds, “when they saw how dedicated we were, we earned their respect.”

When it comes to running a business, experts say that in at least one aspect, teens may actually have a leg up: They already know their way around Instagram and TikTok and are tapped into what’s trending.

But a lot more goes into being an entrepreneur than you might see on social media. For instance, there are legal steps to follow—from applying for a business license to paying taxes—and some of the laws are different for minors than they are for adults (see “What the Law Says,” below).

Giving back is something Sebastian Martinez, 15, and his brother, Brandon, 17, are seeking to do with their business. In 2014, with their mom’s help, the brothers launched Are You Kidding? The company sells their unique sock designs and donates 20 percent of the revenue to charity.

They made their first sale at a booth at a shoe shop near their home in Miami. Now they’ve sold more than 500,000 pairs of socks at fairs, markets, school events, and online. Through charity events and partnerships, they’ve also raised more than $400,000 for pediatric cancer treatments, diabetes research, and other causes.

Sebastian is the CEO, and Brandon is the director of sales. But because of their age, Brandon says, it took time to convince potential partners and manufacturers to take them seriously.

“At first,” he says, “they were like, ‘Oh my god. What are they doing? They don’t know anything.’” But, he adds, “when they saw how dedicated we were, we earned their respect.”

When it comes to running a business, experts say that teens may actually have a leg up. They already know their way around Instagram and TikTok. They are tapped into what’s trending.

But a lot more goes into being an entrepreneur than you might see on social media. For instance, there are legal steps to follow from applying for a business license to paying taxes. Some of the laws are different for minors than they are for adults (see “What the Law Says,” below).

Teen entrepreneurs have the added difficulty of managing a business and keeping up with their schoolwork at the same time.

“That’s definitely been the most challenging part,” says Jungmin, the CEO of Snoopslimes. “Throughout the years, I was in a lot of extracurricular activities . . . and I had to figure out my time management skills.”

A typical workweek for Jungmin consists of testing out new slime recipes, making Instagram videos of products, meeting with employees, and helping run the company’s sales and operations. She took a gap year between graduating from high school in 2022 and starting her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin this fall so she could focus primarily on her business. She also hired her mom in 2019 as a full-time manager to help run the company.

Teen entrepreneurs have the added difficulty of managing a business and keeping up with their schoolwork at the same time.

“That’s definitely been the most challenging part,” says Jungmin, the CEO of Snoopslimes. “Throughout the years, I was in a lot of extracurricular activities . . . and I had to figure out my time management skills.”

A typical workweek for Jungmin consists of testing out new slime recipes and making Instagram videos of products. She also has meeting with employees and helps run the company’s sales and operations. She took a gap year between graduating from high school in 2022 and starting her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin this fall. She wanted to focus primarily on her business. She also hired her mom in 2019 as a full-time manager to help run the company.

Despite all the extra work, though, many teen entrepreneurs, including 16-year-old Keith Griffith III, say it’s worth it. Keith, who founded Beeing2gether, raises bees and sells honey products in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky. He also partners with other local beekeepers to help sell their honey and raises awareness about environmental and mental health issues.

Keith started Beeing2gether in 2019 to help him take his mind off the difficulties of having parents who were incarcerated at the time. He made his first sales by going door-to-door around his neighborhood with his uncle.

Now his honey products are sold in 12 restaurants and stores near his hometown and on his website. Keith hopes to keep expanding his business and was recently honored with a Dream Big Award for young entrepreneurs by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

His advice for other teens interested in starting a business: “Just go for it. You can create and do whatever you want.”

Despite all the extra work, though, many teen entrepreneurs, including 16-year-old Keith Griffith III, say it’s worth it. Keith, who founded Beeing2gether, raises bees and sells honey products in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky. He also partners with other local beekeepers to help sell their honey. He raises awareness about environmental and mental health issues.

Keith started Beeing2gether in 2019 to help him take his mind off the difficulties of having parents who were incarcerated at the time. He made his first sales by going door-to-door around his neighborhood with his uncle.

Now his honey products are sold in 12 restaurants and stores near his hometown and on his website. Keith hopes to keep expanding his business. He was recently honored with a Dream Big Award for young entrepreneurs by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

His offers advice for other teens interested in starting a business. “Just go for it. You can create and do whatever you want.”